Maybe some of you already knew this, and I had certainly expected this, but NASH.V.ILL has hit stride. Jacquea Mae was the accident waiting to happen in Byron Nash’s latest project. Early on, they paid some tribute to Tina, and later they laid into some Stevie. It was funk, rock, soul. Jacquea totally worked the crowd. The only person who could pull some attention away was the little girl who wanted to be like her in front of the stage.
Timbeleza then came on with Pittsburgh Samba Group, doing their usual thing of working the crowd into a frenzy. Next was Bell Family Band, with dad Poogie and son Winston pretty fresh off of an international tour. The funk was solid as ever, but the turn toward fusion is becoming more obvious. Saxman Winston is now improvisinational at will.
The next two events were unexpected. Winston’s longtime bandmate, Brandon Terry, from the much-missed Funky Fly Project stepped in for Poogie on the drum kit,. Shortly thereafter, Jacquea stepped on stage to belt some more notes. It was wonderful nostalgia and mix-and-matching. What a nice star alignment. If you were there, you probably felt lucky to catch it all.